Quays of the Ormesini and Misericordia Street / Area

Quays of the Ormesini and Misericordia, the everyday Cannaregio

The quays of the Ormesini and Misericordia (Fondamenta degli Ormesini and Fondamenta della Misericordia) extend along the canals of northern Cannaregio. Today they form one of the liveliest walks in the district, with a succession of old houses, small shops, bacari, restaurants and terraces set directly on the water's edge.

Their interest is less monumental than that of St. Mark's Square or the Grand Canal, but probably more revealing of Venice's daily functioning. Here, the quay is at once a street, a promenade and a working space: delivery or service boats, moored craft, modest bridges and entrances to dwellings constantly remind us that in this city, water replaces a large part of land traffic.

The area also preserves an urban fabric characteristic of Cannaregio, where modest dwellings and grander residences have coexisted for centuries. On the Ormesini quay, long housing complexes from the 17th and 18th centuries remain, witnesses to a district historically much more residential and working-class than monumental.

The Misericordia quay, for its part, owes its name to the ancient religious complex of the nearby Misericordia and to the great confraternity that established its seat there in the Middle Ages. The spectacular Scuola Grande della Misericordia, rebuilt from the 16th century onwards, reminds us that this area, now known for its bars, once had a strong religious and charitable dimension.

A few minutes away are the Venice Ghetto, the church of the Madonna dell'Orto, and routes considerably less frequented than the main thoroughfares connecting the station to the Rialto. This part of Cannaregio thus retains something of the working and trading city it long was, turned both towards the inner canals and towards the northern fringes of the lagoon.

In the evening, the atmosphere changes noticeably: the many bacari and restaurants make the Ormesini and Misericordia quays one of the liveliest nightlife spots in Cannaregio. In the morning and during the day, the walk is quieter and allows more time to observe the facades, the quays, the boats and the way life is concretely organized along a canal.

This walk thus usefully completes the visit of the district's monuments. Above all, it allows one to understand Cannaregio as a real piece of the city, where heritage, housing, shops and social life overlap without having been entirely transformed into a tourist backdrop.

Sources and further information

Touring Club Italiano - Fondamenta degli Ormesini ; Scuola Grande della Misericordia - history ; Venezia Unica - Cannaregio.